Whenever the Acropolis & other archaeological sites in Athens are closed due to strikes, it brings with it a lot of negative publicity, with images of tourists whose holidays have been disrupted.

We should remember though, that the museums in the UK are not as immune to strike action as they might want to pretend – and also, that to the best of my knowledge, the New Acropolis Museum (which is run differently to other Greek state museums) has never been closed due to strikes.

From:
BBC News

29 May 2013 Last updated at 17:36
Museums prepare for strike action

Access to several UK museums, galleries and heritage sites may be affected this week due to industrial action.

The National and National Portrait Galleries have warned some of their rooms may be closed on Thursday.
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One of the most prominent signs to tourists, of the financial crisis affecting Greece, is the seemingly never-ending strikes that beleaguer the country.

While the strikers are striking for a reason, when one hears stories of people whose holidays have been ruined by them, one wonders about the effect that they have on tourism. As the second article points out, tourism is set to rise again – but everything must be done within Greece to promote this & show the tourists that they will have an enjoyable stay there.

One thing missed by many of these articles about strikes in Greece is that the New Acropolis Museum is run in a very different way to the majority of state owned archaeological sites in Greece – and as such, has never been closed due to strike action.

From:
Greek Reporter

Strike Closes Greek Museums, Sites
By Andy Dabilis on March 8, 2013

Once again, and as Greece has picked up its campaign to lure tourists back after a disappointing last year, archaeological sites and museums were closed because of a workers’ strike against more pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions being imposed by the government on the orders of international lenders.

A 24-hour strike on March 8 shut down the sites across the country. The workers said they were also protesting plans to cut back the Culture Ministry’s operations although it is essential to the tourism industry, the biggest revenue-producer for the country.
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Greece is continuing to try & put a permanent stop to the strikes that have plagued the Acropolis during the last year.

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

Saturday March 14, 2009 – Archive
Attempt to end Acropolis row

An ongoing dispute between Culture Ministry contract workers and the government, which has led to the Acropolis being shut five times in the last two weeks, could be on the way to being solved but at a cost of more than 9 million euros.

The government tabled an amendment in Parliament yesterday that seeks to address at least in part the grievances of the ministry employees who work at the Acropolis and other ancient sites as well as museums.
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Following a plea by Greece’s president, the Acropolis has now re-opened following strikes that have closed it for the last week.

From:
Athens News Agency

03/12/2009
Acropolis opens to public

Culture Ministry’s employees on Thursday cancelled their 24-hour strike and opened the archaelogical site of the Acropolis for visitors, in an act of good will after reassurances by Culture Minister Antonis Samaras for resolving the problem of paying contract staff working at the culture ministry through a bill to be tabled in Parliament within days.
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Greece’s president Karolos Papoulias has now called for an end to the strikes that are currently closing Athens’s Acropolis to visitors. Whilst there is sympathy for the strikers, their actions have the potential to cause major damage to the Greece’s tourist trade.

From:
Associated Press

Greece: Strikers close Acropolis for back pay
1 day ago

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Striking Culture Ministry employees closed the Acropolis to visitors Wednesday for the fifth time in two weeks, turning hundreds of tourists away from the ancient site.

The protesters are mostly contract workers demanding permanent jobs and back pay. Hundreds of visitors stood outside the entrance as strikers handed out fliers detailing their demands.
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Strikes continue on the Acropolis – an issue that needs to be resolved for the New Acropolis Museum, so that it can start as a reliably functioning entity.

From:
Balkan Travellers

27 February 2009
New Acropolis Museum strikes

Tourists hoping to visit one of Greece’s, and indeed the world’s, most famous cultural sites – the Acropolis, are disappointed for a second day in a row, as access to the site has been shut down by striking Ministry of Culture staff.

Demanding permanent positions and the payment of wages that are past due, the workers began their protest on Thursday, when they blocked the entrance to the monument and handed out flyers in different languages explaining the closure, international media reported. The strike is expected to last for three days.
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The New Acropolis Museum needs to exist within an operating framework where it is not constantly threatened by the strikes that regularly close many of Greece’s archaeological sites.

From:
Easy Bourse (France)

Protest Shuts Down Athens Acropolis – Culture Ministry
Thursday February 26th, 2009 / 14h38

ATHENS (AFP)–Protesting workers Thursday shut down the Athens Acropolis and planned to keep up their demonstration until the weekend, the culture ministry said.
About 20 axed contract workers blocked the entrance to the monument Thursday morning, ministry spokesman George Mouroutis told AFP.
“The gates were blocked this morning,” Mouroutis said. “The protest is supposed to continue until Saturday.” Read the rest of this entry »

This is not the first time that strikes have caused the closure of Greek archaeological sites such as the Acropolis. It does however in some news sources seem to have been caught up into the (entirely separate stories) of riots in the city. The site has now re-opened. If anything, such strikes serve to re-enforce the need for the New Acropolis Museum to operate in a new way to that currently used for Greece’s other state run institutions, to try & allow it to run more smoothly.

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

Friday December 12, 2008 – Archive
Sacred Rock shut due to temporal demands

The ancient site of the Acropolis and the Parthenon remained closed to visitors for the third consecutive day yesterday as Culture Ministry staff continued their strike over pay and benefits.

Protesting workers are complaining that a 150-euro bonus reportedly promised to them by Minister Michalis Liapis has not been included in the government’s budget for next year.
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